Listening and Attention

Good listening underpins all language development and helps children to interact successfully with others

• Make sure children have some time each day when they can hear you talking with no background noise to compete with your voice

• Manage screen time so they get a good balance of time interacting with people too 

• Encourage them to look towards you when you are talking to them. Call their name and wait for them to look  

• Model the behaviour you want to see. Make sure you look at them when they are talking and you wait for them to finish before you talk
• Praise them when they show good listening and tell them what you are happy about so they know what they need to do more of! e.g. "You stayed so quiet while I told you what I wanted - you are going to know EXACTLY what to do!"